John Calvin and Chuck Smith

Here's a picture of the sanctuary at our new church building.
I took it right after the cleaning lady had been there - she always sets up the stage this way with the table, so it looks like its ready to host a talk show or maybe an arm wrestling competition.

Anyways, the reason I posted this was to show that there are 2 portraits hanging on the wall behind the stage.

The one on the right is a picture of John Calvin - reformer and father of Reformed Theology (AKA Calvinism)
So, as you can see in this second picture, John Calvin (or Jancsi bácsi, as I like to call him) looks over my shoulder every Sunday as I preach. Its almost like he's reading over my shoulder the whole time - and I don't really like it when people do that.
Another interesting thing to me about this picture, is that - I don't know when it was made, if it was made during Communism or what, but it seems to me to have a striking similarity to this picture of Hungarian Stalinist leader Rákosi Mátyás.
Having said all that - I actually do like the picture. Its cool that he's pointing to the scriptures and putting his hand on his heart, as if to say that he's touched by it.

The picture on the left is of a man named Kovács Károly, who apparently was the pastor of the Reformed church in Eger from 1889-1901.
What's interesting about him, is that translated to English, Kovács means Smith and Károly is Charles. In other words - his name is Chuck Smith!
And the most ironic thing about it all: In our Calvary Chapel, between "Chuck Smith" and John Calvin on our wall, its Chuck's picture that we take down every week so we can project on the wall!
Don't worry - there's no ideological or theological statement involved in that - just an odd coincidence.

For everything there is a season...

Solomon, inspired by God, wrote these words in the book of Ecclesiastes:
To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, And a time to die;
A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill, And a time to heal;
A time to break down, And a time to build up;
A time to weep, And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, And a time to dance;...(Ecc.3:1-4)

Nate is apparently a very mature baby, because as you can see in this picture, he seems to already understand this.
Perhaps in his case it could be phrased: A time to be serious, And a time to be silly.
Oh, and by the way - his shirt reminds me of that Pirate movie. You know the one, right? It was rated ARGH!
Sorry.

J.C.

This blog post is in honor of 3 people whose initials are J.C., who have been on my mind a lot lately -

1. JC = Jesus Christ
Last week we were in Vajta for the annual Foundations Conference, for church leaders from Eastern Europe.
7 of us from our church went, and we had a really blessed time. For me, this conference is one of the highlights of the year - because its a great time of fellowship with like-minded people whom we don't get to see very often, and the teachings are directed at our unique situation, as missionaries and church planters.
But more than anything else, the conference was great because of the presence of Jesus Christ. The reason the teachings were good, was because they were about Jesus Christ - about living for Him and serving Him. The reason the fellowship was good, was because of our common love for and commitment to Jesus Christ, just like 1.John 1:3 says: That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.


2. JC = Joe Cady
My dad. Last Sunday was Father's Day in America. For me, this was my first Father's Day - and for my dad, it was his first as a grandfather.
Also, last Friday was his B-day. Happy Birthday dad! I love you! Thanks for being a great dad and grandpa.


3. JC = Jean Cauvin (AKA John Calvin)
The building our church meets in now is called the Kálvin Ház (Calvin House). It was built in 1711 originally as a brewery, using the water of the Eger Creek, which flows out of the nearby hills (Hungarians call them mountains - I obviously disagree with that designation!).
The building was later purchased by the local Reformed and Lutheran believers, and they lived there (there weren't all that many of them) and held their church services there. It was during this time that the upper floor was added. Later both the Reformed and Lutherans built their own separate buildings, and used the Kálvin Ház for offices and private residences.
During Communism the building was taken away from the Reformed church, and they were just able to get it back, less than 10 years ago.
We have the great blessing of using this building, which is right in the center of town, for our church.
The building is named after John Calvin (born Jean Cauvin), a French Theologian and Reformer. Calvin's "magnum opus" was Institutes of the Christian Religion, a book about Protestant Systematic Theology; originally published in 1536, and is still widely studied by theology students today.
Although I don't agree with Calvin on every theological point, I look up to him and respect him as the champion of such great doctrines as Justification by faith alone, Christian liberty, and the Sovereignty of God.
And, on top of all that, we have a great statue of JC in the courtyard of the building. Nice beard!

Photo Websites

Lately I love Flickr. I could browse it for hours - although I try to exercise some self-control.
Also, in connection with Flickr, I love this site: Big Huge Labs, which has all kinds of cool apps on it for doing quick and easy photo projects. Its designed to work best when hooked up to a flickr site, but if you don't have one, that's no problem either; you can upload any random photos you want as well.
Here are some of the things we've made on Big Huge Labs: